Meteorologist Kristy Steward's First Warning Forecast
Good Thursday night! Stronger thunderstorms will continue to impact us throughout tonight into tomorrow. The Peninsulas and Eastern Shore have been hit the hardest so far, but these storms are slowly making their way southeast tonight. Our severe risk is diminishing, but isolated areas of damaging winds and small hail can't be ruled out. Heavy downpours continue to be our greatest threat. Some places have already seen over 3" of rain. Up to another 3" of rain could fall throughout the rest of this event, which is expected to come to an end Friday night.
That means our flooding threat is higher Friday. There's a Level 1 threat for Flash Flooding for the Peninsulas and Eastern Shore tomorrow and a Level 2 Flash Flooding threat for Southside and North Carolina.
The cold front responsible for all of this rain will pass through Friday night, putting an end to the rain. That rain Friday will keep high temperatures cooler in the low 80s.
Following the cold front, temperatures will remain cooler in the low to mid 80s for highs this weekend. Humidity will also be very low. We should remain dry this weekend making it one of the best Fourth of July’s we could ask for!
Next week starts off dry, but the heat and humidity gradually increase again. Highs back up near 90° the first half of next week. The second half of next week is uncertain. A few models have Tropical Storm Elsa riding up the east coast and impacting us Thursday-Friday of next week. It’s too early to tell if that scenario will play out or not though.
Tropical Storm Elsa is currently 410 miles east-southeast of Barbados and is moving west-northwest at 28 MPH. It is expected to pass through the Windward Islands and southern Leeward Islands Friday, then move through the Caribbean Sea this weekend up through Cuba and the Florida Keys. It then looks like Elsa will track along Florida’s west coast and up along the east coast the middle/end of next week. Stay tuned for updates on potential local impacts.
Meteorologist Kristy Steward
